Investigators investigating the sinking of a superyacht off the coast of Sicily earlier this week that killed seven people are considering bringing manslaughter charges in the case, judicial sources told Reuters.
The prosecutor’s office in Termini Imerese, Sicily, is investigating possible negligence by the yacht’s crew as it was besieged by storms while at anchor.
Divers on Friday recovered what appears to be the body of Hannah Lynch, the last person missing in the tragedy, the Italian coastguard said.
She was the daughter of Mike Lynch, a British tech tycoon who was celebrating his acquittal on fraud charges with friends and family on the boat. Her body was found Thursday.
Luxury yacht sinks: Last body found, believed to be tech mogul’s 18-year-old daughter
An Italian firefighter diving team returned to port on Friday, the fifth day of a search and recovery operation after the luxury yacht Bayesian sank in a storm on Monday. (Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty Images)
The Lynch family was aboard the Bayesian, a 184-foot British-flagged yacht that sank after capsizing in the early hours of Monday amid winds reaching 100 mph.
The Bayesian had 22 people on board – 12 passengers and 10 crew – when it capsized and sank minutes after being hit by a pre-dawn storm.
Fifteen people survived the sinking, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares.
The yacht’s captain and the other survivors were questioned by the Italian coastguard at the request of the prosecutor’s office.
The prosecutor in charge of the case is scheduled to hold a press conference on Saturday. No one has yet been officially investigated.
Possible charges could include negligent shipwreck and multiple homicide, sources told Reuters.
WHO IS MIKE LYNCH, THE TECH BILLIONAIRE WHO MISSED AFTER A YACHT SANKS?
Mike Lynch, a British tech tycoon, died earlier this week when his yacht sank. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“The Lynch family is devastated, shocked and receiving comfort and support from family and friends,” a family spokesperson said in a statement. “Their thoughts are with everyone affected by the tragedy. They would like to sincerely thank the Italian Coast Guard, emergency services and all those involved in the rescue.”
Investigators are trying to understand why the yacht sank so quickly.
Giovanni Costantino, CEO of Italy’s Sea Group, which built Lynch’s yacht, blamed the sinking on a series of “indescribable and unreasonable mistakes” by the crew and ruled out any design or construction flaws.
“The impossible happened on that boat… but it sank because it took on water. From where, the investigators will say,” Costantino said in an interview.
People hug each other on the Porticello pier near Palermo on August 22, 2024, three days after the British-flagged luxury yacht Bayesian sank. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)
Christopher Morvillo, a U.S. attorney at Clifford Chance who defended Lynch in the fraud case, also died, as did Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer, who testified in Lynch’s defense.
Morvillo’s wife, Neda, and Bloomer’s wife, Judy, were also among the dead. The body of the ship’s chief cook, Recaldo Thomas, an Antiguan citizen, was found Monday.
A nearby sailboat rescued 15 people, including a one-year-old girl.
Divers were searching for the missing people in the hull of the Bayesian, which now lies on the seabed at a depth of 50 metres.
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Civil protection officials said they believed the ship was struck by an over-water tornado, known as a waterspout, around 5 a.m. Monday near the port of Porticello, where it was anchored, and then sank rapidly.
Michael Dorgan of Fox News Digital and Reuters contributed to this report.
